Delinquency card selecting machine



Aug. l, 1939. F T BOYLAN 2,167,871 n DELINQUENGY CARD SELECTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 25, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug.1,1939, FTQBOYLAN 2,167,871

DELINQUENCY CARD SELECTING MACHINE Aug. 1, 1939. F.'T. BOYLAN 2,167,871

DELINQUENCY CARD SELECTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 25, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 All@ l l939- F. T. BOYLN 2,167,871

DELINQUENCY CARD SELEGTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 25, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheei'l 4 3ra/umm Ffm( 7*. HUMA/V 1F. T. BOYLAN 2,157

' DELNQUENCY CARD SELECTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 25, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Aug. 1, 1939 UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFlCE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to card selecting machines, and more particularly to such a machine adapted to select and segregate unpunched cards from a mass of cards, some of which are punched and some unpunched. The invention is particularly adapted and designed for selecting unpunched cards representing delinquent accounts in establishing such as personal loan departments of banks, personal loan companies, department stores, and installment houses generally which sell merchandise or the like on a partial payment plan. The prime object and purpose of the machine is to effect a saving of time and effort in picking out delinquent accounts, which is now l5 commonly done by hand, at weekly or monthly intervals corresponding to the dates when payments should be made. The invention is designed for use with a card index system wherein as payments are made on a given account the card representing that account is punched at a designated locality thereon, for that particular payment. The foregoing, and other objects and advantages of the invention will be better understood from the following detail description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the distinctive features of novelty will be thereafter pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a side view thereof;

Figure 3 is a side View of the side opposite that of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a lengthwise vertical section approximately on line 4 4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a vertical section on line 5-5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a transverse section on line 6 6 of Figure 4.

Figure '7 is a transverse section on line 1-'I of Figure 3.

Figure 8 is a partial view, partly in elevation and partly in section on a relatively larger scale of the left hand portion of the machine as seen in Figure 1.

Figure 9 is a detail section on line 9-'9 of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a view partly in elevation and partly in vertical section showing the right hand portion of the machine as seen in Figure 1.

Figure 11 is a sectional detail on line I I-lI of Figure 10.

Figure 12 is a view similar to Figure 10 but showing the operative parts in a differentposition,

Figure 13 is a view also similar to Figure 10 showing the operative parts in still another position.

Figure 14 is a sectional detail on a larger scale on .line Ill-I4 of Figure 6. n 5

Figure 15 is a detail elevation illustrating a presser foot shown in Figure 14, and,

Figure 16 is an elevation of a ledger or index card adapted for use with the invention.

I indicates a hopper or container for a stack of 10 cards C of the character indicated in Figure 16, these cards having an area C' adapted to be punched at pre-determined points for the successive installment payments as they are made.

2 indicates a pusher finger adapted to push the 15 lowermost card successively from the stack into an engagement with a pair of feed-rollers 3. The pusher-linger 2 is adjustably fixed at the upper end of the bell crank .lever ll fulcrumed to the machine frame at 5 and having an extending 20 arm la engaged by a tension spring 6 tending to retract the linger 2. The pusher finger 2 is intermittingly pressed forward to eject a card by a cam I fixed on a shaft 8 which is the prime drive shaft of the machine, this cam acting upon a 25 roller 9 borne at the end of an adjustable link I0 pivotedvat Illa to the lever 4. The lower one of the feed rollers 3 is swingingly mounted on arms II fulcrumed to the frame at I2 and acted on by tension springs I3 tending to press such 30 lower roller upward to grip the paper between it and the upper roller which is positively driven. rlhis drive to the upper one of the rollers 3 is effected through a pinion I4 on the shaft thereof which meshes with a gear I5 on the prime drive 35 shaft 8. I6 denotes a spring presser foot mounted just in advance of the rollers 3 and adapted to press upon the card as it is moved out from the stack and cause it to at once stop after it has cleared the rollers 3. For this purpose the presser 40 foot I6 is slideably mounted in a hollow screw Il adjustably threaded in a block I 8 mounted on the frame. The upper part of the hollow screw I1 houses a compression coil spring I9 to yieldingly press the foot IB downward upon the card just in 45 advance of the feed rollers 3. The presser foot I6 is preferably in the form of a yoke pivoted as indicated at Ita to the lower end of the stem Ib and thusv having spaced apart card engaging areas I6c exerting an equalized pressure upon the card 50 as it is pressed upon the guide rails I6d over which it slides. I provide an adjustable gate adapted to admit a single card, but only one at a time to be fed outward from the bottomof the card stack. For this purpose I provide a gate bar 20 55 adjustably mounted on the housing block I8 and engaged by a screw 2| fitted in said block to adjust said gate bar with a pre-determined spacing above a fixed lower plate 22. Some distance in advance of the rollers 3 and in the line of card feed, I mount a second pair of rollers, the upper one 23 of which is positively and continuously driven by a shaft 24 and worm gearing 25, 26 from theprimedrive shaft. The lower roller 21 cooperating with the roller 23 is mounted on a crank arm 28 fulcrumed to the frame at 29 and having a tension spring 30 engaged therewith tending to move it upward toward the upper roller. One member of the crank arm 28 bears a roller 31 engaged by a cam 32 on the main. shaft 8; this cam being thus adapted to .lower the roller 21 from feeding engagement with the roller 23at intervals as presently further described. 33 denotes aA finder or detector finger operative a short distance in advance from the rollers 23. This finger is adapted to operate through a selected one of the holes 34 of a template 35 mounted on the frame just ahead of the rollers 23. To enable the finger 33 to be adjusted so as to operate through any one of the selective holes 34, it is clamped for endwise adjustment as indicated at 36 at the end of a bell crank lever 31. The lever 31 is mounted for lateral adjustment on a shaft 39, a clamp screw for securing it an adjusted position on said shaft being indicated at 40. The other arm 31a, of said bell crank lever bears a roller 4l engaged by a cam 42 fixed on the main shaft 8, so that thereby the finger 33 is lifted and permitted to drop intermittently. 43 indicates a deflector piece mounted for reciprocation just below the line of feed of the cards when they are not deflected by the finger 33. This deector member has its upper surface 43a parallel with the line of undeflected card feed with a lower surface 43h sloping downward from a pointed extremity 43C, which extremity is at the locality of operation of the finger 33. The defiector 43 is slideablyrmounted on a bracket 44, the under surface of which slopes downward. For reciprocating the deflector 43 it is engaged by an arm 45 fixed to av rock shaft-46 journaledin the'machine frame, the outer end of such shaft having fixed thereon an arm 41 engaged with a link 48. The link 48 is engaged by a tension spring 49 secured to the frame and causing a roller 50 thereon to engage with a cam 5I fixed on main shaft 8. 52 denotes a pair of feed rollers mounted in position to engage the undeflected cards and advance them to a receiver therefor. The lower one of these rollers is mounted on a bell crank lever pivoted at 53 to the frame and spring-pressed upward as indicated at 54 like the other rollers already described. The upper roller 52 is continuously driven by Worm gearing 55 from the end of the shaft 24.

It may now be understood that as the cards are successively delivered from the stack C to the first feed rollers 3, they will be fed therethrough, and when cleared of said rollers the punched area C thereof is located in alinementwith the template 35, the presser footN I6 preventing any excess movement of the card. Thereupon the finger 33 is moved downward by cam 32 through the selected one of holes 34 of template 35, the lower feed roller 21 being thendepressed to inoperative position by the cam 32. In this movement' if the card has been punched so that the nger 33 registerswith a punch hole, as seen in Figure 10, the card is not deflected but will be permitted to continue its straight onwardv movement upon the ensuing withdrawal of the finger 33. In such case the card passes over the deflector 43 into engagement with the feed rollers 52 under the action of the rollers 23, 21, which become operative as soon as the finger 33 is withdrawn. The punched cards are thus delivered into a receiver 56. When a card is fed underneath the template 35 that is not punched at the point for which the machine is set, the finger 33 will engage the card and press its forward extremity downward as seen in Figure 12. The reciprocation of the deflector 43 is so timed that it is advanced over the deflected forward extremity of the card before the finger 33 is withdrawn and thus upon the ensuing feed movement of the card when the roller 21 moves upward to cooperate with the roller 23, the card is deflected downward as indicated at C2 and thus drops into a receiver 51, the deiiector 43 being then withdrawn in readiness for another movement.

The described machine is thus adapted to assort cards rapidly and accurately, selecting the delinquent or unpunched cards and depositing them in the receiver 51, while the punched cards are collected in the receiver 56.

I am aware that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and I therefore desire the present embodiment to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the4 scope of the invention.

Having now described my invention, what I cla-im. as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A. machine of the kind described comprising means for feeding cards successively to a selector station, a reciprocating combined selector and deflector member located at said station and constructedrand arranged to engage an advance edge of unpunched cards and deflect them out of the direct line of card feed and cooperative reciprocating means adapted to engage the deflected edge of such cards and direct them to a receiver separate from the receiver for the punched cards.

2. A machine as described in claim 1, wherein the cooperative reciprocating means embodies a wedge shaped member mounted to reciprocate in parallelism with the direct line of card feed, and having a sloping lowersurface for deflecting they cards.

3. A delinquency card selecting machine comprising means for delivering cards successively from a card stack to a selector station with an advanced portion of the card at said'st'ation free to be moved transversely, means for holding the cards momentarily stationary at said station, intermittently operative feeding means for delivering the cards from said station, a detector finger mounted at said selector station for two-direction adjustment and equipped with means for causing it to engage the advance edge of an unpunched card to press upon' and deflect it from the direct line of card feed, and means also operative at saidselector station for engaging the cards so defiected to guide them to a receiver separate from that which receives the punched cards.

4. A machine as described in claim 3 having a templatemounted at the selector station at one side only of the line of card feed with a series of holes therein, through which said detector finger is adapted to operate to press upon and deflect unpunched cards according to the setting thereof,

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5. A delinquency card selecting machine comprising a holder for a stack of cards, means for discharging the cards individually and successively therefrom to a selector station With a forward end portion thereof free to be moved transversely, means for holding each card momentarily stationary at said station, and a combination selector and deflector member operative at said sta tion arranged to press upon unpunched cards representing delinquent accounts to deect and segregate them from the mass of punched cards for delivery to a receiver separate from the receiver for the punched cards.

6. A delinquency card selecting machine comprising means for delivering cards successively from the card stack to a selector station with a forward portion thereof free to be moved transversely, means for holding each card momentarily stationary at said station, intermittently operating feeding means for delivering the cards from said station, and a detector nger at said selector station mounted and equipped with means for causing it to engage the advance edge of an unpunched card to press upon and deect it from the direct line of card feed of punched cards.

FELIX T. BOYLAN. 

